Friend Luna
by toavoidconversation
Summary: A George/Luna moment at Bill and Fleur's wedding. Luna makes a new friend; it's funny what can happen when you get bitten by a gnome. Please R&R, I don't own HP


_A/N: this is dedicated to **awesomeness333,** who asked (a while ago, sorry!) for a George/Luna fic. It's perhaps more friendship than romance, but I'm afraid that's how it turned out. Enjoy!_

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><p>It was one of those moments that mean so little when it happens, but afterwards, when one looks back on it, it becomes an endearing memory.<p>

They were celebrating the wedding of Bill and Fleur at the Burrow, and despite the heightened security with countless Aurors surrounding the marquee, everyone still seemed to be having a good time.

Luna Lovegood stood among the guests. Accompanying her father, she wore bright sunshine yellow robes to bring good luck to the wedding. The sunflower in her pale blonde hair swayed as she watched the guests mingling.

She spotted Ron Weasley, one of the few people from Hogwarts whom she had classed as a friend. Next to him stood another red-haired person, who she supposed was another Weasley relation. It was odd though; she felt that he looked somewhat familiar, although she couldn't place his appearance. She watched a moment longer, and saw the boy shift awkwardly and run his hand through his messy red hair. _Of course_, she thought in realisation. _It's Harry in disguise. Well, that's very clever. Although he looks very uncomfortable._ She had seen this nervous habit of his a number of times when he was running Dumbledore's Army back in her fourth year, especially at the beginning, when he had been a little reluctant to be leading the DA at all.

So there was Harry. That meant that Hermione and Ginny must have been around somewhere. Yes, she could see them now; They were standing next to one of the small buffet tables that were serving nibbles before the service began, chatting. Hermione was carrying a curious-looking lilac purse, which didn't quite match her dress, and she kept shifting it from side to side as if it was a large heavy bag. Luna didn't quite know what to make of that, but she was sure Hermione had her reasons; she always did. Ginny, in her golden bridesmaid dress, was chatting animatedly, but Luna didn't miss the glances that she threw in the direction of the red-haired boy that Luna now knew to be Harry.

So there were four out of her five friends; she had not yet seen Neville Longbottom, but she was sure he would be around with his grandmother somewhere.

Luna watched them all fondly for a moment, reflecting upon some of the exciting and companionable times she'd spent with them. The Battle at the Department of Mysteries had been one of the scariest moments of her life, but having her friends close by, knowing they had her back, made it possible to focus on firing all the spells that Harry had taught them that year. The following year, when the Death Eaters got into Hogwarts and Professor Dumbledore was killed, Luna had felt such grief at the loss, and such guilt that she had allowed Snape to get past her and Hermione, as he had lied about Professor Flitwick in order to get to the Astronomy Tower to kill the Headmaster. It had taken the joint comfort and insistence that she was not to blame of all five of her friends, although Harry had been unable to stay for long, since he was joining the ranks of those Order members fighting the Death Eaters.

They were all such great friends. Before her fourth year, Luna had not really had what she would call 'friends'. Yes, a few people had been nice to her, like Ginny Weasley, but most people had made fun of her, stealing her belongings and the like. While sometimes this upset her, sometimes even angered her, she brushed it off, telling herself that she had no reason to be irritated. Although she never felt sorry for herself, she had always wanted to prove herself to her peers, get a reputation for something more than being "Loony Lovegood". Until Dumbledore's Army, she had not really felt a part of anything, but the group and the support of her new friends had worked wonders on her feeling like she was a part of something big.

Yes, friends were important to Luna Lovegood.

She decided to head out into the garden for a bit of fresh air. Not only that, but she had heard stories of the Weasley's large colony of gnomes dwelling in their garden and she had always longed to see one, and if she could be bitten by one; gnome saliva was extremely beneficial.

It was rather windy; even at the end of August, the weather was already beginning to turn a little more wintery. The long grass rippled as the breeze swept across it, and Luna reached up to stop her sunflower from blowing away. That would definitely be bad luck.

Something flew past her ear and landed with a thump on the other side of the garden wall. Curiously, Luna least over the wall to see what it was. To her surprise and concern, a gnome lay upside down on the grass, grumbling and rubbing its bald, brown head. "Oh dear," Luna cooed at the creature, looking down at it, "you're going to find it very hard to get home now, aren't you?"

After seeing that the gnome was, in fact making a very speedy recovery, and was already staggering away, Luna decided that she ought to look and see who had thrown it; she had assumed that everyone from the wedding was still inside. She turned around, and saw a red haired boy watching her as curiously as she was watching him.

"Merlin, sorry, Luna, I nearly got you there," he said, with a bashful grin. To be honest, he hadn't realised how close the gnome had come to hitting her until afterwards; he hadn't tested his spatial awareness skills for a while now, not since he had given up on Quidditch some years ago. After the gnome had landed, he had been distracted by the girl's concern for the gnome, as opposed to wondering who had nearly had given her concussion.

"Oh, hello, George," Luna said, not sounding overly surprised to see him there. "What are you doing out here?"

George grinned. "How d'you know I'm not Fred? We are, y'know, identical twins. What makes you so sure I'm George?"

"It's quite obvious," Luna replied mildly, walking towards him. "George has a slightly broader build, and his hair is a bit longer and darker," she continued matter-of-factly. "And besides, you, George, are missing an ear. Didn't you realise?"

She didn't say it in a sarcastic manner, but as if she was truly concerned that he had failed to realise he only had one ear. George was a little taken aback by Luna's observations, not only because they were completely accurate, but also because he had not realised that the blonde Ravenclaw had ever paid him — or even Fred, for that matter — that much attention. Yes, of course she had known it was him, the missing ear was a huge giveaway. George had a tendency to forget that his ear had been cursed off by Snape only a few weeks before. It was funny how quickly one got used to such things.

"Ah, I was just testing you," George said with a wink. "Of course I'm George." He wracked his brains, trying to think of a good ear-related pun to slip into that sentence, but for some reason he couldn't come up with anything. He shrugged. "So what brings you outside, Luna?" he asked.

"Oh, not a lot," she replied. "But I am fascinated by your gnomes. Why were you throwing that one?"

George raised an eyebrow. "Our gnomes? You mean these pesky creatures?" he pointed to a gnome which was wriggling into a hole not ten feet away from them. "Why are they fascinating? We throw them to get them out of the garden, because they dig up Mum's vegetables," George explained.

Luna nodded. "Oh, I see. Yes, well, the _Gernumbli gardensi_ have a disruptive temperament, so that behaviour is to be expected."

"_Gernumbli gardensi_?" George asked, flummoxed.

"Yes, the common garden gnome," Luna explained. "They are quite clever creatures, aren't they?" She gazed wistfully at one nearby.

George snorted. "Yeah, well they learned the swear words Fred and I taught them...although you would think they'd be clever enough to learn that we don't want them in the garden."

"Well, the gnomes like our company," Luna said. She slowly turned towards a gnome that was sitting and grumbling nearby, and walked towards it. "I won't hurt you, see? You like people, isn't that right?"

The gnome turned to her. He stopped a moment, looked Luna up and down, then at her outstretched hand. She smiled encouragingly at it. "Hello," she said softly. "Don't be frightened."

The gnome continued to stare at Luna, as George watched the whole interaction a few steps away. For a moment, the gnome looked as though it would step forward and interact fully with the girl, but then, it moved very quickly.

And before George had even figured out what had happened, the gnome was attached by the teeth to Luna's finger.

To her credit, Luna didn't even look frightened. She merely stood still and looked at the gnome hanging from her finger with curious interest. Then, she beamed at George. "See, George? He bit me!"

"Yes, I see," George said, disgruntled, patting down his pockets for a handkerchief. When he couldn't find one, he swore, and drawing his wand, produced one in mid-air. He then pointed his wand at the gnome. Before Luna could protest, he said, "Stupefy," and watched, satisfied, as the gnome released its hold on Luna and fell to the ground unconscious. He handed the hanky to Luna. "Yes, they really like our company, don't they," he said sarcastically, but his comment was lost on the blonde girl in front of him, who was still smiling, and had still not used the handkerchief.

He took her hand. "Look, let me put something on that - "

She pulled it back gently. "No, no, it's fine. _Gernumbli_ saliva is highly beneficial."

George chuckled. "You're a funny one, Luna."

"Yes, many people have said that about me before." Luna said matter-of-factly. She looked at George. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No, no, not at all, Luna. In fact, I like funny," George hastened to reassure her. He patted her arm. "You're my kind of funny."

She smiled softly at the twin. "Well then, that's fine." she said. "You're nice, George," she said suddenly. "It's almost like having a friend."

George smiled fondly. "I am your friend, Luna. We can be friends."

She nodded her head in satisfaction. "Now I have six."

"Six what?"

"Friends. Now I have six friends. That's nice."

George looked at the girl and frowned at her statement. But Luna looked so serene that he just had to smile. "Well, that's great. Pleased that I could help you with that. I'm your friend, Luna." He looked at her bleeding finger. "Now, are you _sure_ you don't want me to heal that?"

"I'm sure," Luna said. "Now, I have to go and show Daddy." She turned to walk away. "Thank you for your company, George," she added before she headed back to the marquee.

"No problem, you crazy, funny girl, Friend Luna," George said quietly in reply, with a small grin. He shook his head. _What a strange, but fantastic person that girl is_, he mused as he too made his way back to the marquee.

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><p><em>Five years later<em>

_Luna flicked through her photo album as she sat curled up on the sofa in her flat. Pausing at the moving photographs of Bill and Fleur's wedding, she watched everyone dance for a while. In the background, she spotted a familiar person, with darker red hair, and only one ear. He grinned and waved at the person behind the camera. Luna smiled at the photograph. George had been so full of laughter that day, and so generous, as he said "I am your friend, Luna. We can be friends." Luna had felt so grateful to have another friend._

_Since the death of his twin, Luna hadn't seen George. She walked past the old building where Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes had once stood, now boarded up and derelict, and she felt sad. He hadn't replied to any of her owls, asking if he was okay, as any good friend did._

_Maybe he wasn't her friend after all._

_The doorbell rang, and Luna uncurled herself from the sofa and answered the door._

_"Hello, you crazy, funny girl, Friend Luna. Long time, no see."_

The End

**_A/N: So yeah, I know it's not overly romantic, but it's the beginning of a good friendship! Luna is insanely difficult to write, I just realised! But it was a great challenge, so thank you for reading. Will you review? xx_**


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